How to share a printer with multiple computers

Whether it is in the office or in the home, it is unlikely that each computer will be equipped with a printer, this time the print sharing will have to face. Print sharing can be said to be the most common in the LAN environment of peripheral sharing scheme, because the implementation is very simple, users do not need to have too much computer knowledge can be done. Now, let's take a look at how to implement print sharing in the XP operating system.

Low cost shared printing scheme

Environment: For local area network users who want to save cost, we can share the printer in a low cost way without adding any devices.

1. Configure the printer host

First we need to configure the printer on the host. For the moment, we call the computer directly connected to the printer "host", while other computers in the LAN that need to share printing with the host are called "clients".

The first step: Connect the printer to the host, turn on the printer power, go to the Printers and Faxes folder through the console's control Panel, right-click in the blank, select the Add Printer command, and open the Add Printer wizard window. Select "Connect to a local printer on this computer" and tick the "Automatically detect and install a Plug and Play printer" check box.

The second step: the host will be the new printer detection, will soon find the connected printer, according to the prompt to the printer driver CD included in the CD-ROM drive, after installing the printer driver, in the "Printers and Faxes" folder will appear the printer icon.

Step Three: Right-click on the newly installed printer icon, select the "Share" command, open the printer's properties dialog, switch to the "Share" tab, select "Share this printer" and fill in the "Share name" input box with the name you need to share, such as Compaqij, click "OK" button to complete the shared settings.

Tip: If you want other versions of the operating system on the LAN to share the host printer no longer need to find the driver, we can pre-select these different versions of the operating system driver installed on the host, just click the "Other Drivers" button, select the appropriate operating system version, click "OK" Can be installed after the installation.

2. Configure the Protocol

In order for the printer to be shared smoothly, we must install the "File and Printer Sharing protocol" on both the host and the client.

Right-click My Network Places on the desktop, select the Properties command, go to the Connections folder, right-click the Local Area Connection icon, select the Properties command, if Microsoft File and printer Sharing is not found on the General tab in the use the following items for this connection list, You will need to click the Install button, select "Services" in the pop-up dialog, then click "Add", select "File and Printer Sharing" in the "Select a Service" window, and then click "OK" button to complete.

3. Installation and configuration of the client

Now that we've done all the work on the mainframe, we're going to configure the clients that need to share the printer. We assume that the client is also an XP operating system. In each computer that wants to use a shared printer, the print driver must be installed.

First step: click start → settings → printers and faxes, start the Add Printer Wizard, and select the printer option.

Step two: Several ways to add a printer are available on the Specify Printer page. If you do not know the specific path of the printer, you can select the Browse printer option to find a printer that is shared within the same workgroup in your LAN, a computer with a printer installed, select a printer, click the OK button, and if you already know the path to the printer, you can use the Universal naming convention that accesses the resource ( UNC) format, enter the path to the shared printer, such as "Jamescompaqij" (the user name of the host), and then click Next.

The third step: Then the system will you enter the printer name again, after the loss, click the "Next" button, and then press the "Done" button, if the host set up a shared password, here is required to enter a password. Finally we can see that the icon for the shared printer has appeared in the Printers and Faxes folder of the client, and here our printer is already installed.

4. Make the printer more secure

If only this is the case, illegal users in the local area network may be able to use shared printers, causing a "climb" in printing costs. In order to prevent illegal users from sharing the printer freely, it is necessary to restrict the use of the printer by setting account usage rights. By setting the security properties on the printer installed on the host, you specify that only legitimate accounts can use the shared printer.

First step: In the Printers and Faxes folder of the console, right-click the shared printer icon in it, select the Properties option from the context menu, and in the Shared printer properties settings box that opens, toggle the Security tab.

Step two: In the Option Settings page that opens later, select Everyone at the Name list and select Print as deny at the corresponding permissions list so that no user can access the shared printer at will.

The third step: then click the "Add" button, you can use the shared printer's legitimate account to import into the "name" list, and then select the imported legitimate account, and the corresponding print permission to "Allow".

Repeat the third step to import all other legitimate accounts that need to use the shared printer, then set their print permissions to allow, and then click the OK button.

Tip: If you can't find the Security tab, you can cancel using simple file sharing by selecting tools → folder options → view on the folder menu bar.

Efficient sharing of printing solutions

Suitable for the environment: For enterprise users, the efficient way to use the print server, the printer no longer needs to be installed on a computer, but can be directly connected to the LAN or even the Internet for other users to share. At this point, the printer is no longer a PC peripheral, but as a separate node for high-speed printing output.

A print server can be viewed as a server, a node with a fixed address and a service to the user, which is an important part of realizing resource sharing. Print servers are usually divided into two types: built-in and external. The built-in print server is similar to the network card, with small size and small footprint, no external power supply required. The disadvantage is that the installation is not as convenient as an external print server, and once the print server's system is down, the print job stops. The external print server has the features of easy installation, does not occupy system resources and is easy to manage. The cost is typically higher than the built-in print server.

1. Print server settings

There are some differences between the installation of the print server and the normal printer installation, let us briefly explain below.

First step: Hardware connection. If it is an external print server, plug the network cable into the corresponding interface of the print server, connect the print server's port with the printer's port with a single-port print cable (if the printer is a USB port, you need to connect the USB interface), and then plug in the print server. If it is a built-in print server, the connection is more convenient, only need to remove the printer installed on the internal print server's bezel, plug in the built-in print server, screw the captive screws, and then the print server and connect.

Step Two: Select the communication protocol and set the IP address. As a product, both external and built-in print servers are selected to support the corresponding communication protocol. At present, the majority of operating systems support TCP/IP protocol, so in the choice of protocol generally choose TCP/IP protocol to communicate with. The IP address setting of the print server is in one management, different brands of products have different management, when the purchase of the print server will be included in the random. The management of the print server can generally be done by the web, depending on the corresponding instructions.

Tip: The IP address of the print server must be on the same network segment as the IP address of the computer that is ready to be shared within the LAN. If you are not on the same network segment, you need to make changes in management.

Step Three: Install the printer on the server. At this point, the print server has been successfully installed, but to print you must also select a computer on the LAN to install it in order to set its shared properties. In the company's local area network, it is best to select the server to install. This way, the printer setup is complete.

Fourth step: Share the printer. Now, we can install the printer on the computer on the LAN by the way of the normal installation. If the communication is OK, we can find the shared printer name in the shared printer list and install it.

2. Purchase of the print server

With the traditional use of computer host as a print server, the advantages of using a dedicated print server mainly reflected in the cost, although the print server price is also expensive, but the relative thousands of yuan of the PC is still cost-effective. The advantage of high-end print servers is that the accompanying print monitoring functions and the ability to match with high-speed printers can greatly improve productivity. For our average home users, there is little need to consider buying a print server

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